It was back to Mondello Park for rounds 6&7 of the
MicksGarage.com Future Classics Championship on Sunday 14th August 2016.
This weekend saw the biggest list of entries with twenty-three cars on an ever growing grid.
There were some new cars on the grid and some returning cars and as always in this class the level of presentation was impeccable. Team Duggan Motorsports launched their new Cordoba, which really looked well and gave even more variety grid. Also we saw the return of Pat Lucy in his beautiful Abarth liveried Fiat Punto.
We never know what car Robbie Parks will arrive in and this weekend he entered in a smashing looking 1.3 Mitsubishi Colt. This car is under development and I'd imagine it will be pushing forward for rounds 8 & 9.
Other return cars returning to the grid were the BMW 323 of Ger Byrne and the minty fresh white Punto of Ian Thornton. It's great to see such diversity in the championship and all of them presented to such high standard. Next year promises even more variety!
Qualifying:
Qualifying started
at10:00amon Sundaymorning and the early few laps started dry. Late into the session the rain came down heavily and made for some very interesting racing lines!
After qualifying the only two to break the barrier time was Adrian Dunne (1:08.778) and Richard Kearney (1:08.895). This meant they would get demoted to the back of the grid for race 1.
The front of the grid for race 1 (round 6) was as follows;
- Ian Thornton
- Timothy Duggan
- Aidan Byrne
Race 1:
As the lights went out Duggan and Tommy Byrne made a burst for 1st and 2nd consecutively with the charging pack of 21 cars close behind, all trading places on the tarmac. On the 4th lap there was a coming together between two cars at turn 1. This resulted in oncoming cars colliding and tripping over each other causing quite a bit of damage. Thankfully his is very rare to see in Future Classics but as we all know this is Motorsport and one mistake at high speed can have grave consequences out there.
As the race went on Byrne made his way past Duggan up front, it may have taken a little nudge but I'm sure there were no hard feelings! As always Future Classics has its little battles throughout the grid with Ken Byrne and Eoin O Brien battling hard and also a good fight between Hammond, Kellet and Aidan Byrne.
Unfortunately there were a few DNFs throughout and the race ended early with a red flag incident with five minutes remaining. This didn't suit the chasing pack with Adrian Dunne’s charge from 23rd ending at 9th.
Tommy Byrne got the win in his Toyota Celica, which was a great result for him on his first run out in the car. The Giant Killing Uno of David Hammond came in 2nd place and another Giant Killer in the making was young William Kellet in his 1.3 Micra who finished in 3rd spot.
Race 2:
Race 2 (round 7) lined up slightly differently with Adrian Dunne getting his first pole position of the season. Ian Thornton lined up beside him in 2nd and Richard Kearney in 3rd. As the starting lights went out Duggan and Dunne got off the line very well. Dunne continued to lead the race but was closely stalked by the Seat of Timothy Duggan, while battles were on-going all the way through the pack. John Downey was making great progress from the back of the grid in his nippy little 205 GTI but unfortunately breaking the barrier time on his way. This trend would continue all through the top ten cars as eight of them also broke the barrier time. Up front the battle with Dunne and Duggan continued with David Hammond pushing his little Uno hard to join the party.
With two laps to go Dunne made a slight mistake trying to get past a back marker which allowed the Seat of Duggan to slip past on the inside. All the pack were chasing hard and William Kellet was looking like the only one in the top ten who didn’t break the barrier time. When all cars crossed the line it was Duggan, Dunne and Hammond first home. But when all the times got sorted out and penalties got added it was William Kellet to take the top spot with a very good steady drive. Ian Thornton came in 2nd place and as Adrian Dunne only broke the barrier time once he clung on to 3rd.
This leaves the Championship a little more than an open affair with no big movers at the top. This will surely lead to a very exciting Leinster Trophy (rounds 8 & 9) of the
MicksGarage.com Future Classics Championship on the 17th &
18th September 2016.
Its great to see the race class going from strength to strength and it's because of a lot of factors. First our Sponsors at
MicksGarage.com and the inclusion of KAST coming onboard, without their support it would be impossible to keep the Future Classic show on the road and we are all very thankful for their amazing support so far this year. Secondly the lads behind the scenes who keep the cogs turning; Aidan, Ken, Brian, Darren, John all work very hard to keep this class alive and its thanks to them that Future Classics looks like it has a very bright "Future" indeed.
Last but not least, the drivers. They are one of the main reasons this class is so popular. The time and effort that has gone into the cars over the years, really has everyone talking about this class. Getting the cars ready for grid, paying the entry fees and putting on one hell of a show without killing each other. That may have slipped a little in round 6 but I'm sure going forward this won't happen again, and we will all move forward together and make this one of the best tin top classes in the country.
Just as a side note, don't forget we will be having two demo races at the Mondello truck show on the
4thSeptember 2016 and we look forward to seeing you there. PS barrier time need not apply;)
By
Adrian Dunne
